Car-coupling attachment



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS C. STEWARD, OF GHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.

CAR-COUPLING ATTACHM ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,855, dated January18, 1881.

Application filed October 12, 1880. (No model.)

10 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS OORWIN STEW- ARD,of ,Qhattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, haveinvented a new and Improved Oar-Coupling Attachment, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improted carcouplingattachment which is simple in construction, convenient in use, andpermits of coupling cars by means of the well-known link and draw-head,without requiring the operator to enter in between the cars and endangerhis life, as has been necessary heretofore, for he can stand at the sideof the car while coupling with my improved attachment, which he doeswith one hand, and with the other he can give his signal to theengineer.

The invention consists of a bar provided with an adjustable handle,which bar is pivoted adjustably, both longitudinally and in height, to avertical rod, which is adjustably held in a frame attached to the end ofa car platform or fioor, this bar being thus so adjustable that it cancatch under the link of, a draw-head of a car of any desired size,style, or construction, and lift the link so that it can enterthe,draw-head of the next car.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the endof a car provided with my improved car-coupling attachment. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional elevation of the bracket-frame attached to theend of the car platform or floor.

,Abar, A, provided at the outer end, B, with a handle, 0, that can beadjusted by means of the apertures D and bolts E, to make the bar A acertain distance longer or shorter, is pivoted in such a manner that itsinner end, F, reaches under the link G, held in a drawheadyH, by alink-pin, J, so that the outer end of this link G can be raised bydepressing the outer end, B, of the bar A.

In order to adjust the fulcrum of the bar A as necessity may require, itis provided with a series of apertures, K K, near the middle. A pin, L,passes through one of these apertures into one of'a series of apertures,M, in a rod, N, whichisheld between the arms 0 O of a bracket-frame,Rattached to the end of the car platform or floor Q, as shown. Thesearms 0 O are provided with apertures R R near the outer end, to admit ofadjusting the rod N a greater or less distance from the end of the carplatform or floor Q. This rod N is held in its desired position by meansof the nuts S S. The bar A has a bend, T, beyond the rod N, so that theend F of the bar A can reach beyond the draw-head, but does not requirethe bracket-frame P to project out very far. The bar A can swing on thepin L as a pivot, or on the rod N as a pivot.

The operation is as follows: The link is secured in one of thedraw-heads H by means of the pin J, as shown, in the ordinary manner.The operator steps to the side of the track and inclines the bar A tosuch an extent that its inner end, F, will be below the link G, andswings the bar forward and backward until he has the end F of the bar Ain the desired position in regard to the length of the link, the rod Nforming the axis of rotation. The operator then depresses the handle 0,thereby raising the link Gr proportionately until the latter is in sucha position that it passes into the draw-head of the approaching car. Thepin can be dropped from above or can be set so that it drops by theshock. The cars can thus be conveniently and rapidly coupled withoutrequiring the operator to pass in between the cars and endanger hislife.

The bar A can be adjusted to suit any car, and the whole device can beattached to old cars without altering them, and as the apparatus can beadjusted for any car only one size need be used.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- The combination, with the draw-head H, of the bar A,having bend T and apertures K, the vertical rod M, having apertures N,and the arms 0, having apertures R, as and for the purpose specified.

THOMAS OORWIN STEWARD.

Witnesses:

BEN. H. BARR, H. M. WIL'rsE.

